Posted - 01/19/2010 : 2:31:21 PM I am excited about the sweater I just finished. I've had the pattern for years but although I liked the style I never liked the silhouette. I took a storebought sweater that I love the fit and worked the handknit to the more fashionable specs of the storebought and I am so happy with the FO.

BUT.....I want to keep working on it. I had an idea today to unpick the sleeve at the cast on edge and change the ribbing.....for no real reason. I have a new bag of gorgeous yarn and I want to make this same sweater again instead of a new pattern.

I was also pleased with the sweater I made last month but I had to put it on a high shelf for a while so that I wouldn't start fiddling with it and ruin it after it was all done.

GFTC of NYC

Posted - 01/27/2010 : 6:23:49 PM Thanks! I have some wool in my stash that would be perfect. I'm in startitis mode at the moment but have a lot of indecision going on.

Carol, Wisconsin

GFTC

Posted - 01/26/2010 : 5:33:45 PM Thanks, Carol. Yes, it's the Must Have Cardigan. It's a great pattern - I would recommend it to anyone who wants to knit this type of sweater. I made a few alterations which are in the notes on my Ravelry page.

GFTC of NYC

Posted - 01/26/2010 : 4:18:52 PM That is one gorgeous sweater. Is the pattern "Must Have Cardigan"?

Carol, Wisconsin

GFTC

Posted - 01/25/2010 : 8:00:12 PM Thanks for the nice comments about my sweater. I wore it over the weekend and I have to say I felt good about it. Yes, I was wearing handknit socks but they were my secret hidden inside my boots.

Posted - 01/25/2010 : 01:31:22 AM For me it is almost the opposite, when in the last rows of a project I start too plan the next one and can't wait to start to wear the item (or let it be worn). I'm a bit better now then 5 years ago when I really would rush through the finishing. Now I take my time and do the finishing properly, but that urge to finish it is still there...A middle road would be nice!

Another urge I have is to wear the newly knitted items and awful lot in the months after I knitted them, but I guess that is a good thing...

Posted - 01/24/2010 : 9:57:19 PM Very nice! What a gorgeous sweater. I like that you fit the body to the specs you liked and the provisional cast on idea. I'd say in your case, "tweaking" really pays off.

GFTC

Posted - 01/24/2010 : 5:39:51 PM I finished the cardi, sewed on the buttons, and actually wore it. No more tweaking on this one. Here's the picture: cable cardi

Posted - 01/20/2010 : 09:43:16 AM Since I posted I've undone the cast-on edge of both sleeves, ripped them back, and reknit them to my liking.

I noticed that it is always the sleeves that I'm dissatisfied with after sewing up the sweater, regardless of whether I knit them top down or cuff up. I think from now on if they are cuff up I'm going to use a provisional cast-on and begin at the sleeve itself. Then when the sweater is all finished I can go back and work the cuff to my liking and that will be easier than undoing a cast-on edge & ribbing. I also like the idea of ultimately working the cuff on dpns even if the sleeve was knit flat. That way there is no seam and much nicer and more comfy if I want to turn it over or push it up.

GFTC of NYC

Posted - 01/20/2010 : 09:16:14 AM Ha! You post this just as I am about to undo the sleeves of one finished sweater to lengthen them and resew the collar of another to better hide the seam.

Also, I've noticed that when I finish something, I often want to launch into another one. Then, about halfway through the second one, I finally tire of the pattern, and the second half is a chore. I've made 7 Tooth Fairy Pillows and 3 Wee Baby Lambies in recent months, and now have a headless Lambie impaled with DPNs waiting in a project bag for me to summon the energy to finish.

So you're not alone. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to stop this silliness, either.

Posted - 01/19/2010 : 5:24:56 PM I love that cardigan, GTFC, and have the yarn. But I have to finish socks for me this winter: two pairs on the needles.

And, you are not alone! During my dressmaking years I learned that impulse to keep working, tweaking the piece *had* to be resisted! I would never get it out the door, nor would I make any money! Gaaah!

I also had a really hard time starting the next project: I would "dance around the cutting table", making endless pattern alterations, before I could get started with the "destruction" of the beautiful fabric that we call "cutting out the garment".

Well, that was how it felt, anyway. It's a wonder my business went trundling along OK!

I am looking forward to the EZ "Green Sweater", and think it may serve the same function as your new one!